The 'magic' of walking with grief

"Grief can make some people hole up indoors. But in Northampton, Massachusetts a walking bereavement group gathers outside once a week on warm days and chilly ones. Most join the group after a spouse has died, but some are there to remember a sibling, a parent or a child. Maureen Cahillane, 91, walked with a cane around a local park with about two dozen other people."

"It's more of a stroll, than a walk -- slow enough so people can turn to each other as they converse. "It's not an exercise group," Shelly Bathe Lenn cautions the walkers as they gather in a circle next to a park bench before setting out. "Slow down for the people behind." Lenn, a bereavement counselor at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, leads a variety of groups for people who are grieving, including an art group and a book group."

"Sometimes the conversation is lightheartedsuch as the latest on the Red Sox or remembering the meatballs a mother used to make. At other times, the emotions can be raw, for instance, when recalling what a loved one went through just before they died. "They're sharing experiences that most of them feel like they couldn't share with anybody else," Lenn said. The group breaks into twos and threes walking along wide paths that skirt gardens and open parkland."

A weekly outdoor walking bereavement group in Northampton, Massachusetts meets once a week through warm and chilly weather, offering slow strolls rather than exercise. Participants mostly join after the death of a spouse, though some attend to remember siblings, parents, or children. Sessions draw about two dozen people and are led by bereavement counselor Shelly Bathe Lenn from Cooley Dickinson Hospital, who also runs art and book groups. Conversations arise naturally and range from light topics to raw recollections of dying moments. Members report reduced loneliness and the comfort of sharing experiences they could not share elsewhere.

Read at www.npr.org